Hypnagogic Hallucinations! What's That?!

I have a sleep disorder called hypnagogic hallucinations and I have had this for over 20 years. Many people have sleep disorders and don't know it. For many years I didn't know what was wrong with me and I was afraid to tell anyone for fear they would think I was psychotic!

Hypnagogic hallucinations is a disorder of the sleep/wake cycle where you can have disturbance of your senses- see things, feel things, hear things, be unable to move your body, and often have a "sense" of foreboding or fear, usually within the first hour or two of falling asleep. Some typical things people will see are spiders, animals, intruders, and shadows moving.

I can tell you from personal experience it is very frightening, because you absolutely believe what you are seeing/feeling. I have attempted to hit my husband during an episode (thought he was an intruder), grabbed lamps out of the outlet for defense, jumped out of bed and crawled across the floor, turned lights on (this is often), screamed (not in a few years) and other shenanigans over the past 20 years.

What is known about hypnagogic hallucinations is this:it tends to run in families, it is a disorder of the sleep/wake cycle, it is NOT associated with psychological issues although stress can increase the episodes, it is related to narcolepsy (I do not have narcolepsy), and it does tend to get better with age. It does NOT mean that you are psychotic!

In my early 20's I went to a few different therapists to consult about my sleep issues (not knowing what I had and thinking it had to be a deep psychological problem), and the sad thing is that those therapist did not know about sleep disorders and encouraged me to think that it was trauma related. I certainly have my share of wounds and childhood difficulties, but the hypnagogic hallucinations really are a misfiring in the brain- and how it manifests may be related to personal issues (someone who is not afraid of rodents, probably won't see rodents), but that I have the disorder is not because of childhood problems.

So if you or someone you love has this disorder, I offer up the following advice.
- Keep a regular sleep schedule!
- Do stress reduction activities: exercise, meditate, deep breathing
- Check with your doctor about your medications
- Consulting a sleep disorder specialist could be beneficial
- Know that is a fairly common disorder!
- Track symptoms to see if there is any pattern

Above all know that you are in good company if you experience this!